Mann barred from Lok Sabha for 2 more weeks
Saturday, 19/11/2016
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/mann-barred-from-lok-sabha-for-2-more-weeks/325355.html
New Delhi : Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan today barred AAP MP Bhagwant Mann from attending the House proceedings for two more weeks, allowing another extension to the parliamentary panel investigating the alleged security breach by him.
Mann, 43, has been away from the Lok Sabha since July 25, the day the committee was formed to probe the MP’s “improper conduct” and recommend action.
Reacting to the development with a caustic Facebook post and a dharna outside Parliament, Mann called it a “murder of democracy”.
“I represent 15 lakh people of Sangrur Lok Sabha segment. These people sent me to the country’s biggest panchayat. It is my right to attend the House, but I have again been asked not to come for two weeks. I missed the monsoon session also. I have to speak on demonetisation woes, the SYL canal, the atrocities against Dalits and other issues concerning Punjab and the country. But I am being deliberately being kept outside the House. The PM is afraid of me,” Mann said in his Facebook video.
In this social media post, he again defended his act of streaming Parliament security details live, saying that he had only showed “the Parliament gate which mediapersons show all the time”. “What had I done? A BJP MP once entered Parliament with a forged sticker. He was forgiven. I was in my official vehicle with an official driver. The parliamentary committee should submit its report in a time-bound manner. I will accept whatever they say,” Mann said in the post that went viral.
The committee headed by BJP member Kirit Somaiya has received a two-week extension starting tomorrow. This is its third extension.
Mann has been in the dock for revealing entry points to Parliament, besides some House procedures known only to MPs. He video-recorded these details while travelling from his official residence to Parliament House one morning, and then streamed it all live. The panel is planning to call Mann for another hearing.
